What Is Emotional Trauma?

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The Impact of Emotional Trauma on Mental Health

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At their core, traumatic events refer to intensely distressing or overwhelming experiences. These events can strain your typical ability to cope and maintain a sense of wellness. At times, the impacts of a traumatic event are physical. They can also be emotional or psychological.

Sometimes, exposure to trauma only has short-term effects. However, for a significant number of people, the impact persists rather than resolving. Lingering trauma can lead to serious problems in your daily life. Many find that healing starts with recognizing the impacts of their trauma.

So, what is emotional trauma and how is it avoided or best overcome? Purpose Healing Center provides evidence-based, trauma-informed care. We’re here to help you understand the implications of emotional trauma and move through the healing process.

A Working Emotional Trauma Definition

Emotional trauma refers to your emotional response to a traumatic event. Physical and emotional reactions to trauma can vary. Examples of emotional responses to trauma include:

Feelings of shock or disbelief.
Guilt or shame.
Helplessness.
Sadness.
Grief.
Anger.

Worldwide, about 70% of people have gone through a traumatic event, and more than 30% have been exposed to four or more. As a trauma survivor, you aren’t alone.

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The Most Common Causes of Emotional Trauma

What causes emotional trauma? Technically, it can be any type of traumatic event. Traumatic events come in a range of shapes and forms. Some traumatic experience examples tend to be isolated rather than ongoing. Examples include:

Hurricanes and other natural disasters.
Instances of physical or sexual assault.
The death of a loved one.
Divorce.
Witnessing severe violence toward others.
Severe physical injuries.
A car accident.

Other kinds of events happen repeatedly or remain a constant in your everyday life for a while. These are referred to as chronic trauma. Examples of traumatic events in this category include:

Serious illness (e.g., cancer) affecting yourself or a loved one.
Long-term physical, sexual, or emotional abuse.
Living in a war zone.
Growing up in an area affected by gang violence.
Domestic violence.
Bullying.
Poverty.

Any of these events, whether isolated or repeated, can lead to new shifts in mood, cognitive function, reactivity, sleep patterns, and physical health. When this happens, you are likely having a traumatic emotional reaction.

What Is Childhood Emotional Trauma?

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Your age at the time of a traumatic incident has the potential to influence how it affects you in some ways. Many people experience traumatic events in adulthood. However, childhood emotional trauma is very common, too.

By official definition, the term childhood trauma includes any exposure that occurs before you turn 18. Roughly one-quarter of all United States children have had experiences that meet this definition. If it affects you emotionally, it counts as childhood emotional trauma.

Childhood trauma is important to differentiate because of its tendency to have lingering consequences. Survivors of adverse childhood events (ACES) are at a significantly higher risk of various mental and physical health concerns.

Acute vs Delayed Symptoms of Emotional Trauma

Psychological trauma symptoms fall into two general categories: acute responses and delayed responses. These don’t differentiate the type of emotional reactions. Instead, they refer to when you experience symptoms (or how long symptoms last).

What Is Acute Emotional Trauma?

Acute reactions are short-term and occur immediately or soon after a traumatic event. The impacts of trauma you experience at this time may include:

Disbelief or denial of what has happened to you.
A sense of numbness.
A feeling of detachment or disconnection from what has occurred.
A general feeling of being overwhelmed.
Feelings of helplessness.
An inability to orient your mind to your surroundings.
A sense of loss of control.
Anger.

An acute trauma response may also include changes in how you think. Trauma symptoms of this nature include such things as:

Lack of your normal ability to concentrate.
Racing or rapid thoughts.
Memory disruption.
A distorted sense of space and time.

Everyone has emotional responses immediately after trauma. Not only is this normal, but it’s healthy and expected.

What Is Delayed Psychological Trauma?

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Delayed reactions to stress do not necessarily occur immediately. Instead, they persist or develop a while after your trauma exposure. Ongoing physical and emotional reactions you experience may include:

A hostile or irritable mood; feeling angry on a continued basis rather than immediately after the event.
Emotional detachment from the world or other people.
An unstable mood or mood swings.
Feelings of grief.
A depressed or “down” mood.
Feeling on edge or hypervigilant.
Hypersomnia or insomnia.
Anxiousness.

The delayed trauma definition includes changes in your usual thought processes, such as:

A preoccupation with what happened to you.
Unwanted memories of a traumatic event.
Problems making decisions.
A sense of reliving a past event.
Excessive self-blame.

Not everyone reacts to traumatic events in the same way. This means that not everyone will experience the same kinds of symptoms. In addition, the intensity of your reaction may differ from that of other people.

If these symptoms continue to affect your life and functioning, you may have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The ongoing nature of PTSD symptoms is what differentiates PTSD from acute trauma reactions.

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Posttraumatic Stress Disorder vs Trauma

PTSD and trauma aren’t synonymous terms. Specifically, not everyone who goes through a traumatic event will develop PTSD. There are risk factors and protective factors that can affect your chances of getting PTSD, but it can ultimately affect anyone.

PTSD is detected using criteria in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). To get a diagnosis of PTSD, you must experience :

At least one re-experiencing symptom: Recurrent and distressing traumatic memories or dreams, flashbacks, distressing thoughts, or physical signs of stress.
Two or more arousal and reactivity symptoms: Feeling tense, on guard, or on-edge, being easily startled, trouble falling or staying asleep, irritability, angry outbursts, difficulty concentrating, and risky, reckless, or self-destructive behavior.
At least one avoidance symptom: Avoiding internal (e.g., feelings) or external (e.g., people, places, or things) reminders of traumatic events.
Two or more cognition and mood symptoms: Social isolation, difficulty experiencing positive emotions, ongoing negative emotions (e.g., fear, anger, guilt, shame), loss of interest in previous activities, negative thoughts about the world, others, or oneself, or trouble remembering key features of a traumatic event.

Qualified professionals usually diagnose this disorder via a verbal assessment. They’ll ask about things like your history and symptom duration at this time.

Are You Traumatized Emotionally?

Following a traumatic event, you may find yourself asking, “Am I traumatized?” If you find that you have symptoms of emotional and psychological trauma, the answer might be, “Yes.”

Rather, should you seek help if you have been emotionally traumatized? Anyone who has been through a traumatic event can seek help. This is true no matter how mild or severe your symptoms are.

And, remember, you don’t need a diagnosis to seek trauma therapy.

Other Mental Disorders and Emotional or Psychological Trauma

Image of a depressed man sitting with both hands on his face, possibly affected by trauma-related mental disorders

PTSD is diagnosed when symptoms last for a month or more. There are other diagnoses, such as acute stress disorder, that a provider might make if symptoms start soon after a traumatic event.

Trauma-Related Conditions

In addition to PTSD and acute stress disorder (ASD), there are several other trauma-related conditions. Two of these conditions occur only in children:

Disinhibited social engagement disorder.
Reactive attachment disorder.

Other potential problems affecting children and adults include, but aren’t limited to:

Adjustment disorder.
Conditions that do not fit the definition of any other defined disorder

Notably, a range of other disorders are associated with trauma and complex trauma that are not considered trauma disorders.

When treating these disorders, which include but aren’t limited to the following, it’s integral that professionals address trauma as an underlying cause or contributing factor.

Anxiety Disorders in Trauma Survivors

Anxiety disorders can affect anyone, not just trauma survivors. However, trauma does increase your risk of anxiety disorders. For example, generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, and panic disorder are all more prevalent in trauma survivors.

Trauma and Substance Abuse

Trauma makes you more vulnerable to substance use disorders. This can be particularly true in people who endure traumatic events, like violence, abuse, or neglect, in their childhood.

Mood Disorders in Trauma Survivors

Like anxiety and substance abuse, mood disorders can affect anyone. However, mood disorders like depression and bipolar disorder are more common in trauma survivors.

Personality Disorders and Trauma

Personality disorders like borderline personality disorder (BPD) can be linked to traumatic events. In fact, most people who have BPD have been through a traumatic event (especially childhood trauma).

When Is Emotional Trauma Harmful to Your Mental Health?

Some people experience short-term reactions to trauma. In other words, they go away and don’t produce a lasting effect on your mental health or functioning. It’s not to say that trauma is not jarring in these instances. But, they’re a natural response to danger.

Many of the acute reactions to trauma may play a protective mental health role. Ideally, after a traumatic event, you’ll have time to process what happened and recover your well-being. As you approach a firmer emotional footing, they could fade away on their own.

Lingering or delayed trauma can have a more serious, negative impact. Instead of fading away, your symptoms may stay the same, or even grow worse. When this happens, the long-term effects of trauma may lead to a loss of your usual ability to function. If that loss is substantial, you may have a diagnosable mental health condition.

Effective Treatments for Emotional Trauma

Image of a man, woman and a counselor in a couples therapy session, possibly for trauma-related mental health support

It is possible to recover from your trauma symptoms. For example, PTSD is often treated effectively with therapy or a mix of medication management and therapy. Therapies like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and its variations are most often used to treat PTSD.

One example of a CBT-based therapy is prolonged exposure therapy. This treatment gradually exposes you to things that trigger your PTSD symptoms. In this way, it helps you regain a sense of control. Another option is cognitive processing therapy, which helps you change damaging thought patterns.

Most of the medications used in PTSD treatment are antidepressants. You may also receive anti-anxiety medication or a sleep aid. Not everyone recovering from traumatic stress will need medication; it is prescribed when it benefits the individual.

We provide personalized treatment plans for trauma survivors. Our programs involve individual therapy sessions, where you’ll work one-on-one with a mental health professional, and regular group therapy sessions. Family therapy, medication management, and other treatments are also available.

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Call Purpose to Get Support for Emotional Trauma

Although it can feel incredibly lonely, emotional trauma is a natural reaction to certain types of disturbing or jarring events. However, many people experience unresolved trauma and find the help needed to overcome it.

Finding a specialist matters when it comes to trauma treatment. The medical and mental health professionals at our center are trauma-informed, with extensive experience helping people like you heal from trauma and its effects.

To learn more about the potential effects of lingering emotional trauma and how we can help, contact Purpose Healing Center confidentially today.

FAQs About Emotional Trauma

What is an emotional flashback?

An emotional flashback refers to a sudden, intense surge of feelings related to traumatic or distressing events. During an emotional flashback, you might experience intense feelings of shame, panic, fear, abandonment, or trouble thinking clearly.

What are common physical symptoms of trauma?

Image of an unhappy woman rubbing her temples with both hands, possibly showing physical symptoms of trauma

Common physical symptoms associated with trauma include headaches, body aches, fatigue, and gastrointestinal issues. These may pair with emotional symptoms of trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder.

What is the most common emotional trauma?

The 2016 World Mental Health Survey Consortium data reports the sudden loss of a loved one as the most common traumatic event.

What does emotional trauma feel like in the body?

When reminded of emotional trauma, you may experience bodily reactions as well as psychological symptoms. For example, increased heart rate, nausea, shaking, or muscle tension.

How do you heal from emotional trauma?

Trauma therapy can help you heal from emotional trauma. Looking for a treatment center like Purpose Healing Center that provides trauma-informed care is ideal for trauma survivors.

Why does trauma informed care matter?

A trauma-informed professional will take special care to move at a slower pace if needed; they’re versed in the ways people express emotional trauma differently and all of the ways it can show up. For these reasons and others, trauma-informed care helps survivors avoid future harm and unnecessary distress that could impede healing.